The invention relates to a vehicle comprising loading and unloading apparatus, which comprises a loading platform which can be moved by driving means, wherein the loading platform comprises an endless belt which is passed over support rollers, and a head partition extending substantially transversely to the flexible belt, which is connected to said belt, which belt can be moved forwards and backwards by driving means, wherein said driving means include a rack extending parallel to the longitudinal direction of the belt, which rack is connected to a wall of the vehicle, and a pinion which meshes with said rack, which pinion can be rotated by means of a motor which is mounted on said head partition.
With a vehicle of this kind, which is known form Dutch patent NL-C-1004671, the head partition is moved in two opposite directions by driving and rotating the pinion in clockwise or anti-clockwise direction. When the head partition is moved, also the endless belt that is connected to the head partition is moved. One advantage of driving the head partition by means of said rack-and-pinion drive is that it is possible to determine the position of the head partition with respect to the vehicle in a simple manner, for example from the number of revolutions of the pinion.
The advantage of such a movable loading platform is that the cargo can be moved into and out of the vehicle in a simple manner when loading and unloading the vehicle.
With the vehicle that is known from Dutch patent NL-C-1004671, the rack is disposed above the belt that forms the loading platform, wherein the teeth of the rack extend downwards and wherein the pinion meshes with said teeth from a position located thereunder.
One drawback of such an arrangement is the fact that when the cargo, for example boxes, is placed on the loading platform, said boxes may partially extend under said rack, as a consequence of which such a box interferes with the rotation of the pinion over the rack. In addition, the rack projects some distance into the cargo space from the side wall, which has a negative effect on the amount of space that is available between the side walls for receiving cargo.
Moreover, the presence of the projecting rack involves the risk of the cargo and/or the rack being damaged upon loading.
The object of the invention is to provide a vehicle wherein the aforesaid drawbacks are avoided.
This objective is accomplished with the vehicle according to the invention, in that the rack is disposed under the loading platform, whereby the pinion meshes with the rack along a side edge of the endless belt.
By having the rack extend under the belt that forms the loading platform, the rack is no longer present in the space that is available for receiving cargo, as a result of which the entire space that is present between the side walls is available for receiving cargo.
One embodiment of the vehicle according to the invention is characterized in that a rack and a pinion that meshes with said rack are disposed on either side of the endless belt.
Since a rack is disposed on either longitudinal side of the endless belt, the forces that occur upon movement of the head partition are distributed evenly over the two side walls of the vehicle.
Another embodiment of the vehicle according to the invention is characterized in that the belt is attached to both sides of the head partition with its ends.
Thus, a connection between the belt and the head partition is obtained in a simple manner whilst at the same time the endless belt is formed.